Skills to Learn List

[Packratona!]

Here I go again with my list making....
What skills or abilities do you think everyone should work on learning, in preparation for "The Big One" (whatever that is). Better to have at least a rudimentary skill level in as many things as possible, before it happens! Suppose you lost your house and everything in it, including your car, your ID, your emergency stash, and all the banks were shut down. All you have is the clothes on your back. This will be a long-term situation, lasting from several weeks to a year or more. What skills/knowledge would be it be nice to have? I'll start off the list:

1) Ability to walk long distances
2) Edible plants available in area (whether city or country)

[SiouzQ.]

3) Ability to create fire from scratch.
4) Abiilty to procure potable drinking water

[rodeosweetheart]

Ability to assess others for injuries/illness and help them.

[Ultralight]

Here I go again with my list making....
What skills or abilities do you think everyone should work on learning, in preparation for "The Big One" (whatever that is). Better to have at least a rudimentary skill level in as many things as possible, before it happens! Suppose you lost your house and everything in it, including your car, your ID, your emergency stash, and all the banks were shut down. All you have is the clothes on your back. This will be a long-term situation, lasting from several weeks to a year or more. What skills/knowledge would be it be nice to have? I'll start off the list:

1) Ability to walk long distances
2) Edible plants available in area (whether city or country)

Whoa! What a tough situation to be in! And what a tough question.

I suppose I'd want to have the kind of social skills/circle that I could rely on.

[Packratona!]

Whoa! What a tough situation to be in! And what a tough question.

I suppose I'd want to have the kind of social skills/circle that I could rely on.

Perfect answer! Why it's good to know your neighbors (as MMM says in his latest). BTW Thanks for the idea for this latest thread I started...kind of going off topic in the other one ha-ha.
One reason to acquire skills, is so you can help your social circle to survive and thrive. Who wouldn't want a friend like that? Hmm lots of food for thought here.

[Ultralight]

My social circle is rather oblivious to "The Big One" or even moderately-sized ones. I only have one friend interested in disaster preparedness and he just dabbles here and there.

[Packratona!]

Cleaning fish. I learned how to clean and catch crabs in my early teens, so easy! But I let the fishermen in the family do all the fish.
Collecting earthworms, grasshoppers for bait

[Ultralight]

Cleaning fish. I learned how to clean and catch crabs in my early teens, so easy! But I let the fishermen in the family do all the fish.
Collecting earthworms, grasshoppers for bait

Now you're talking my language! ;)

[Packratona!]

I really think that a lot of preparedness is really mental. A lot of people are just so finicky and closed minded that they blanche at the thought of....oh boy an idea for another list!

[Ultralight]

I really think that a lot of preparedness is really mental. A lot of people are just so finicky and close minded that they blanche at the thought of....oh boy an idea for another list!

I think the mental skill of stoicism is important. One skill I have worked on and made serious progress with is simply doing without.

[Packratona!]

Now you're talking my language! ;)

Tying flies? Ha Ha!

[Ultralight]

Tying flies? Ha Ha!

Uh-oh! I am a bait fisherman. hahahaha

[Packratona!]

I think the mental skill of stoicism is important. One skill I have worked on and made serious progress with is simply doing without.

Excellent, excellent!

[Packratona!]

Uh-oh! I am a bait fisherman. hahahaha

A new hobby for you! And they don't even smell!

[Ultralight]

I use worms, minnies, and nightcrawlers mostly. I occasionally use fakin' baits. :)

Another skill I would like to have though is fixing things, but it is so far from the capacity of my liberal arts brain!

[Packratona!]

I use worms, minnies, and nightcrawlers mostly. I occasionally use fakin' baits. :)

Another skill I would like to have though is fixing things, but it is so far from the capacity of my liberal arts brain!

Do you trap your own minnows?
That liberal arts brain drain racket is such a ridiculously huge waste of everyone's time and money!

[Ultralight]

Do you trap your own minnows?
That liberal arts brain drain racket is such a ridiculously huge waste of everyone's time and money!

I want to learn to, but I have not yet. Cut-bait is easier to acquire. So I will probably go that way first. :)

Don't get me wrong, I love the liberal arts. haha But I was lamenting my lack of mechanical aptitude. :)

[Tammy]

Accepting that most of us won't make it?

[Ultralight]

Accepting that most of us won't make it?

:(

[ApatheticNoMore]

Accepting that most of us won't make it?

i had the same thought: acceptance, meditation, ability to face one's mortality? carry on ...

But that's an end of the world situation, if one has merely lost their house, all their money, their livelihood or any means of getting it back. Then maybe the knowledge needed is how to live like a homeless person. Well there are lots of them, so I suppose one could learn how they live, what are their tips and tricks (I'm sure there ARE tips and tricks to making the best of it, but not sure I want to learn them). But homeless people do know how to be without homes or many means, can't deny that, even if it doesn't seem a very desirable lifestyle (funny how most of them choose a lifestyle on the very margins of civilization - could not get more marginalized - rather than out in the woods - not that we encounter the one's who make the latter choice much probably).

[Float On]

I know how to strip certain barks to make lashings to build a temporary shelter in the woods. I should probably sharpen my farm knife.
Having access to paper maps would be good. I know the first thing I'd try to do is make it to the family farm. Its a 5 hour drive but if we need to walk part of it, it could take 10 days or more. (moleskin and water filtration bottles - plenty of access to to ponds, rivers, lakes between point A & B)

[Ultralight]

i had the same thought: acceptance, meditation, ability to face one's mortality? carry on ...

But that's an end of the world situation, if one has merely lost their house, all their money, their livelihood or any means of getting it back. Then maybe the knowledge needed is how to live like a homeless person. Well there are lots of them, so I suppose one could learn how they live, what are their tips and tricks (I'm sure there ARE tips and tricks to making the best of it, but not sure I want to learn them). But homeless people do know how to be without homes or many means, can't deny that, even if it doesn't seem a very desirable lifestyle (funny how most of them choose a lifestyle on the very margins of civilization - could not get more marginalized - rather than out in the woods - not that we encounter the one's who make the latter choice much probably).

The biography of Daniel Suelo, The Man Who Quit Money, has lots of insights into this!

[bae]

- shelter location/construction
- sanitation
- a good supply of stories, poems, songs, conversational topics stored in-brain to help with morale of self and others

[Ultralight]

- shelter location/construction
- sanitation
- a good supply of stories, poems, songs, conversational topics stored in-brain to help with morale of self and others

Morale is a really good point.

[Dhiana]

Since the question mentioned more long term...

Food prep and storage; What if you catch more than one fish? Find a whole tree full of ripe apples?

[Ultralight]

Since the question mentioned more long term...

Food prep and storage; What if you catch more than one fish? Find a whole tree full of ripe apples?

Good point. I have frozen many berries and fish fillets, but that only works when you have a freezer.

[freshstart]

Here I go again with my list making....

1) Ability to walk long distances
2) Edible plants available in area (whether city or country)

I'm staying out of this one because I saw this as "edible pants" three times, lol. I swear I wasn't always this stupid, it's my new brain.

and this is proof I will in no way survive the Big One unless someone kindly takes my hand and we leave behind my stock of edible pants

[oldhat]

Medical care. When you're in serious pain, everything else, even food and shelter, starts to seem less important.

[Ultralight]

I'm staying out of this one because I saw this as "edible pants" three times, lol. I swear I wasn't always this stupid, it's my new brain.

and this is proof I will in no way survive the Big One unless someone kindly takes my hand and we leave behind my stock of edible pants

Strawberry fruit leather!

[freshstart]

lmao

[Selah]

I would want to know multiple ways of purifying water with items that can be scavenged from nature and from urban or residential settings. I would also want a good working knowledge of first aid and how to hotwire a car and siphon gas. My dad was always worried about "the big one," and, I kid you all not, for my 17th birthday he bought me a lock-picking set and a video called "The A to Z of B&E" (breaking and entering). He was adamant that I learn these skills and even had me practice breaking in to his back door!

[Williamsmith]

How to become and remain anonymous.
How to victimize others without remorse.

[freshstart]

How to victimize others without remorse.

sorry, didn't see that one coming and can't stop laughing, yet it's true

[freshstart]

Medical care. When you're in serious pain, everything else, even food and shelter, starts to seem less important.

I feel moderately comfortable that I could handle basic medical care in a crisis and help others, i can stretch supplies and be creative in trying to find a way to fix something. But if it's the apocalypse, eventually we run out of pain meds, antibiotics, etc. I do not want to live in a world like this, people killing each other over a Z pack, kwim? When it gets to that stage, I want out and would seriously stockpile the med cocktail to do this for myself and any family members who want to come with me. I hate this thread, lol. It makes me wish I had no kids, no family, no friends so no one suffers. I'd want Bernice, my beloved dog, and I'd have that magic cocktail for her as well.

[Williamsmith]

As hunter gatherers, we are all genetically programmed to prepare. Some, thanks to the influence of consumerism, are over invested in preparations. That's the trouble with getting prepared.....there are so many possibilities and scenarios that a single person can have their whole life taken over by the urge to prepare.

What do you prep for today? End of the world....EMP...the next Katrina....disease....drought....financial collapse.

A common problem related to all of it is......if I get it now when I don't need it, how do I keep it when everybody needs it?

Does that present both a logistical dilemma to you and a moral one also? It should, because as a person pursuing simple living there are trappings in the preparedness community that will make you uncomfortable. Security being the most important. What good is a garden plot? It is not mobile and it is a liability to protect. Much better to let someone else grow the food. You can buy food from them in stable times and steal it from them later.

The most important skill will be ruthlessness. You must be willing to learn how to take what you don't have and injure/kill to do it. But you must let no one know you are capable or willing to do either.

There are all these Christian and semireligious militant groups portending imminent collapse. None ever predict an exact date or time. Just that it is right around the next corner. They are even recruiting to one part of the country. They have written about how such a prepared group will survive to re establish a remnant after the collapse. How they will do this without violating a plethora of Christian principles is impossible for me to understand. Because the list you are asking for here includes many horrible abilities.

[bae]

What good is a garden plot? It is not mobile and it is a liability to protect. Much better to let someone else grow the food. You can buy food from them in stable times and steal it from them later.

The most important skill will be ruthlessness. You must be willing to learn how to take what you don't have and injure/kill to do it. But you must let no one know you are capable or willing to do either.


I have a different outlook, or perhaps a broader one. I think the most important skill will be living in community. We are not solitary hunter-gatherers. "The Road" is a very unlikely disaster scenario, with each man an island trying to survive in a bleak and hopeless world.

For most situations, working together with a community or tribe will be essential to surviving, and getting back on our feet. This doesn't mean you don't have security concerns, as there will be other communities/tribes that decide that violence and conquest is the way, and you need to be prepared to do something about that. But primarily, to live through Bad Times, you'll be better off playing with others, not looting and pillaging.

Anyways, just some of the reasons I live on a remote island in the ocean, have farmland that I don't consider a liability, work with ~100 people I trust with my life who train and drill each week to work together as a team to Do Needful Things and show up within minutes, and practice my 1000 yard shots regularly :-)

[kib]

As has been alluded to, so much of this depends on what 'The Big One' means. How fast does this happen? How extreme is it, how widespread is it - and what happened? Have we poisoned our environment, introduced a life threatening illness, run out of water? Been invaded? Is the infrastructure ok but the land ruined, or is the internet toast but the forest just fine? How small and how isolated are the groups of survivors? Is it permanent, in a human time frame? Is there time to create a travois for the edible pants? Is one stuck where one is, or is one forced to leave?

At least considering hollywood disaster scenarios, I think having a body of knowledge other people need and don't have would make someone a valuable commodity, and more likely to be respected - or at least not killed. Medical and dental knowledge, understanding how to resurrect or in some way replicate the infrastructure, generic survival skills like making fire and finding water, other survival knowledge like how to stay cool or keep from freezing, the ability to forage and to make edible food out of what's found. Later on, the ability to be creative about repairing things, the ability to farm plants or animals, the ability to be supportive, entertaining or comforting, the ability to teach.

I would like to agree with Bae that the typical predator/prey scenario we're fed - at the first sign of trouble bands of armed thugs will show up to steal everything we've so carefully gathered, kill the men, rape the women and eat the children - is far from a given. Not everyone is on their best behavior in a crisis, but neither does every able-bodied person suddenly lose all moral compass and compassion.

[Williamsmith]

I do not disagree with anything Bae or kib have laid out. Certainly for many scenarios Bae is in a decent arrangement to do better than most. However, the scenario of band of armed thugs pilaging your community would be a blessing compared to the most likely scenario and that is.........an incident not severe enough to create the wipeout situation providing for reasonable anarchy....no the most likely and worst is the partial collapse of government with various agencies Homeland Security, Department of Justice, department of defense, National Guard, state police, federal law enforcement, FEMA, Department of Transportation.....all attempting to control a panicking population. Chaos.

Unfortunatley, there are limited off shore islands for the masses to claim.

[kib]

I worked not with but alongside FEMA during hurricane Katrina. Good point.

[bae]

I work in cooperation with FEMA, the military, the state national guard, the CDC, the state emergency services folks, the FAA, the BATF, Homeland Security, and half-a-dozen other agencies on a very regular basis. I think people overestimate the emergency response capabilities of these agencies seriously, as well as their ability to "impose order".

My conclusion based on my observations and training is that in any truly widespread event, none of those agencies are going to be capable of doing much at all.

But still we train and drill and work on inter-agency cooperation, for the lesser events, and to help with local resilience in the larger ones.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CltMlBE6P5E/T9kShgNIHTI/AAAAAAAAFis/r7DC5LA_-_Y/s912-Ic42/Awesomized.jpg

[bae]

Unfortunatley, there are limited off shore islands for the masses to claim.

People who choose to live in densely-populated urban/surburban areas heavily reliant on continued physical and social infrastructure for basic life essentials are likely to experience some Harsh Times come a real serious disaster.

People in the Seattle area when the Cascadia fault lets loose aren't going to have a lot of good options. I hope they aren't relying on some magical agencies to step in and save the day.

[kib]

I interpreted WilliamSmith's point to be that they will not achieve order, but they may die trying. And so might the rest of us, caught in the crossfire.

Personal experience, fire suppression was inter-agency but as you say, they had a standing protocol for working with each other. But when NIFC met FEMA, in crisis and without prior warning, it wasn't violent but it was pretty much impossible, I'm glad it wasn't a scenario involving armed forces. Imagine baking a cake and the guy next door wanders over and looks at your bowl and says, 'eggs, yeah, that's good, use eggs. Here, lemme microwave 'em for ya.'

[freshstart]

oh, i forgot I even read the Road, that was a tough one. I'm sticking with a planned exit when it gets rough enough, I don't think I have the genes for survival at the End. Like fighting for food and water or God forbid having to kill someone trying to take the little I have left. Maybe I am wrong and I'd have that fight for life, but what kind of life would I be fighting for if everything is gone, everyone I love is gone? ok, not looking in here again, it freaks me out

[ApatheticNoMore]

oh, i forgot I even read the Road, that was a tough one. I'm sticking with a planned exit when it gets rough enough

I've often thought that is very wise, have a preferably painless way to go (poison probably) if one ever wanted to in such a scenario.

[freshstart]

I do not do well with end of the world scenarios and I think it stems from all the Social Studies discussion about a possible nuclear annihaltion in the years I was in 6th grade-high school. It certainly felt like it could come true. We had drills where we had to go sit in the hallways and bend over to cover your face. Now how incredibly stupid is this when you've just said people will die en masse, quickly in the place they were standing? We were plenty old enough to fully realize sitting in the hallway with our head ducked was asinine. We had to watch the Day After, that scared the crap out of me. I avoid movies and books with this topic, except I read everything by Cormac McCarthy.

My friends all love Walking Dead, many friends who like the same things as me, so I thought, they like, we almost always like the same things, I'll try it. OMG, that's a horrible show! My friends were surprised I didn't like it, "because, that could totally come true, man, all of it!"

[Tammy]

Bae - what's your elevation on that island? You guys ok with a few feet of sea level rise?

[Packratona!]

I know how to strip certain barks to make lashings to build a temporary shelter in the woods. I should probably sharpen my farm knife.
Having access to paper maps would be good. I know the first thing I'd try to do is make it to the family farm. Its a 5 hour drive but if we need to walk part of it, it could take 10 days or more. (moleskin and water filtration bottles - plenty of access to to ponds, rivers, lakes between point A & B)

I just read that milk weed stems can be turned into really strong threads that can be used to tie things/woven into ropes etc. Have to try that some time. Also, the young leaves of birch trees are edible (the ones with the white bark). About the map: just knowing basic navigating skills (north star and such) would be a very good skill to have.

[Packratona!]

I interpreted WilliamSmith's point to be that they will not achieve order, but they may die trying. And so might the rest of us, caught in the crossfire.

Personal experience, fire suppression was inter-agency but as you say, they had a standing protocol for working with each other. But when NIFC met FEMA, in crisis and without prior warning, it wasn't violent but it was pretty much impossible, I'm glad it wasn't a scenario involving armed forces. Imagine baking a cake and the guy next door wanders over and looks at your bowl and says, 'eggs, yeah, that's good, use eggs. Here, lemme microwave 'em for ya.'

I can actually picture this kind of scenario. I live in a large urban environment, and have one friend who lives nearby, who already kind of helps herself to food in my house. She will stop by and ask if I have this or that ingredient (cheese, spaghetti sauce, etc. etc.) so she does not have to go to the store (which is across the street from my house). I always say yes, as I know she does a lot for other people and is very generous person herself. But the point is, this would not happen in a rural situation as much, it would not be as convenient. On the other hand, living close to others can be very helpful in many ways; it has its pros and cons.

[bae]

Bae - what's your elevation on that island? You guys ok with a few feet of sea level rise?

My house is at about 900 feet up the side of the mountain here. My mother's house is on the shoreline, perhaps 10 feet above high-high tide. Our main village is perhaps 20-30 feet above high-high-tide. (Tsunami from a local slip-fault undersea mudslide will cause some issues to the folks in the lowlands....)

The good news is that the little bit of plate the county sits on is still rebounding from the weight of glaciation from the last ice age, and we are rising a bit faster than sea level rise, so far :-)

[Tradd]

My thought:

Learn how to shoot. Learn how to work the common semi-auto pistol, revolver, shotgun, rifle.

There have been many instances after disasters or public unrest that neighbors have banded together to protect their businesses and/or homes from looters.

So you don't have a firearm, but someone else might have spares (and shooters often do), and if you know how to handle whatever you're handed, that's a good thing.

[bae]

So you don't have a firearm, but someone else might have spares (and shooters often do), and if you know how to handle whatever you're handed, that's a good thing.

And basic firearm safety is a good skill to have anyways, disaster or not.

Ditto chainsaw operation.

[Tradd]

And basic firearm safety is a good skill to have anyways, disaster or not.

Ditto chainsaw operation.

"You're going to shoot your eye out!" (A Christmas Story). :)

[Ultralight]

As hunter gatherers, we are all genetically programmed to prepare. Some, thanks to the influence of consumerism, are over invested in preparations. That's the trouble with getting prepared.....there are so many possibilities and scenarios that a single person can have their whole life taken over by the urge to prepare.

What do you prep for today? End of the world....EMP...the next Katrina....disease....drought....financial collapse.

A common problem related to all of it is......if I get it now when I don't need it, how do I keep it when everybody needs it?

Does that present both a logistical dilemma to you and a moral one also? It should, because as a person pursuing simple living there are trappings in the preparedness community that will make you uncomfortable. Security being the most important. What good is a garden plot? It is not mobile and it is a liability to protect. Much better to let someone else grow the food. You can buy food from them in stable times and steal it from them later.

The most important skill will be ruthlessness. You must be willing to learn how to take what you don't have and injure/kill to do it. But you must let no one know you are capable or willing to do either.

There are all these Christian and semireligious militant groups portending imminent collapse. None ever predict an exact date or time. Just that it is right around the next corner. They are even recruiting to one part of the country. They have written about how such a prepared group will survive to re establish a remnant after the collapse. How they will do this without violating a plethora of Christian principles is impossible for me to understand. Because the list you are asking for here includes many horrible abilities.

I have a friend who says of collapse (and similar situations) "I have an AR-15. If I need something I can go out and take it!"

Here is why that does not make sense: Every other yahoo here in the US owns an AR-15! Or some comparable firearms. Show up at his door and he will answer your fire, probably before your fire asks the question.

I really think that community is the key. When a psychopathic lone wolf shows up on the outskirts of my pack's territory and wants our elk, whose going to get it? Lone Wolf? Or Jake and his pack of non-hierarchical wolves who cooperate as generalists for the good of the group?

[bae]

I really think that community is the key. When a psychopathic lone wolf shows up on the outskirts of my pack's territory and wants our elk, whose going to get it? Lone Wolf? Or Jake and his pack of non-hierarchical wolves who cooperate as generalists for the good of the group?

I will say that there is a very useful role for hierarchy in emergency response situations. When I'm showing up for a structure fire, I and 20 other guys don't just freelance as a self-directed anarcho-syndicalist pack and fight the fire - we have prior organization and a chain of command that we rely on to safely and efficiently deal with our problem.

[Ultralight]

I will say that there is a very useful role for hierarchy in emergency response situations. When I'm showing up for a structure fire, I and 20 other guys don't just freelance as a self-directed anarcho-syndicalist pack and fight the fire - we have prior organization and a chain of command that we rely on to safely and efficiently deal with our problem.

I actually agree with this, for the most part. In certain emergency situations a hierarchy gets everyone through the emergency. But this is not a perfect system either.

My bottom line: If there is a pressing, frantic emergency situation I will certainly take direction from bae! No joke. :)

[Mary B.]

I will say that there is a very useful role for hierarchy in emergency response situations. When I'm showing up for a structure fire, I and 20 other guys don't just freelance as a self-directed anarcho-syndicalist pack and fight the fire - we have prior organization and a chain of command that we rely on to safely and efficiently deal with our problem.

I agree with you for sure for emergencies, bae. The one thing that I note though is that you and your colleagues spend a lot of time practicing to make sure the system works. Whether your department has done it or not, lots of other fire/emergency response departments have worked out the details so you know it's ideal to have X people doing this and Y people doing that and so on. And you practice. (Our volunteer fire department practices every Tuesday night, plus they do weekend sessions and such.)

I think that practice is important part of other, non-hierarchical, ways of organizing too -- in fact, it might be that most of us need more practice with that than we do with the hierarchical style. Learning to work together in a collaborative way is not especially easy. Doing it while it's still fun -- collective canning bees, work-bees at community centres, old-fashioned barn-or-whatever raisings -- is a way to practice, and personally, with all due respect to williamsmith, I prefer it to practicing my ruthlessness.

[bae]

Learning to work together in a collaborative way is not especially easy. Doing it while it's still fun -- collective canning bees, work-bees at community centres, old-fashioned barn-or-whatever raisings -- is a way to practice, and personally, with all due respect to williamsmith, I prefer it to practicing my ruthlessness.

Brilliant :-)

[Ultralight]

I agree with you for sure for emergencies, bae. The one thing that I note though is that you and your colleagues spend a lot of time practicing to make sure the system works. Whether your department has done it or not, lots of other fire/emergency response departments have worked out the details so you know it's ideal to have X people doing this and Y people doing that and so on. And you practice. (Our volunteer fire department practices every Tuesday night, plus they do weekend sessions and such.)

I think that practice is important part of other, non-hierarchical, ways of organizing too -- in fact, it might be that most of us need more practice with that than we do with the hierarchical style. Learning to work together in a collaborative way is not especially easy. Doing it while it's still fun -- collective canning bees, work-bees at community centres, old-fashioned barn-or-whatever raisings -- is a way to practice, and personally, with all due respect to williamsmith, I prefer it to practicing my ruthlessness.

Well said!

[Ultralight]

I was thinking more about this thread. I think that no matter what, being a part of a community is great. But if you are preparing for social problems like long-term economic decline, peak oil, etc. I think your community needs to have this in mind; it can't be just about getting together to play Settlers of Catan.

[ApatheticNoMore]

You can wait for peak oil or long term economic decline, meanwhile your community dissipates as everyone is too concerned with moving for jobs or become too engrossed in other economic opportunities like starting businesses etc. (or they have economic hardships that leave them no other choice but to move for economics or the grass is greener elsewhere ...) in the meantime, which is a mean enough time as is and people do what they must to survive it.

[Ultralight]

You can wait for peak oil or long term economic decline, meanwhile your community dissipates as everyone is too concerned with moving for jobs or become too engrossed in other economic opportunities like starting businesses etc. (or they have economic hardships that leave them no other choice but to move for economics) in the meantime, which is a mean enough time as is and people do what they must to survive it.

There is a fair amount of evidence to show that worldwide peak oil has already occurred. But I don't think regular Americans are feeling it.

I also think that in the US, we are already in a state of long-term economic decline.

I totally agree on the point that communities are unstable because people have to move for work, or work too much to be involved in their community.

Tough situation...

[ApatheticNoMore]

There is a fair amount of evidence to show that worldwide peak oil has already occurred. But I don't think regular Americans are feeling it.

my own take on that is that there is enough oil and other fossil fuels that will be profitably extracted (at least with subsidy and fossil fuels are globally subsidized) and burned to fry the planet ... and that's what I see happening. Maybe not enough fossil fuels to get us out of that predicament if fossil fuels even could get us out of it (maybe if they were used for solar panels or something, but I don't know).


I also think that in the US, we are already in a state of long-term economic decline.

I totally agree on the point that communities are unstable because people have to move for work, or work too much to be involved in their community.

yea will people move more or less for work in a state of economic decline, as fighting to keep one's place on the totem pole gains importance (of course those who have jobs are easily coerced to put in more overtime etc. and the free time the unemployed could provide to do worthwhile things is mostly wasted). Of course the poor (just the poor who have housing etc., I have no idea about real extremes like the homeless) often do have some sense of community.

[Ultralight]

Bumping this thread up...

In the past couple weeks I have met two other "peakists" -- folks interested in the issue of peak oil.

One I met IRL and the other I met on the intarwebz.

But it got me thinking again about disaster preparedness.

[iris lilies]

Bumping this thread up...

In the past couple weeks I have met two other "peakists" -- folks interested in the issue of peak oil.

One I met IRL and the other I met on the intarwebz.

But it got me thinking again about disaster preparedness.

We attended a bulldog Meet-up event yesterday where the speaker works for the county's emergency management office and she just got a tax funded big rv that holds 60 animals. She is one of us, a bulldog lover.
Anyway, she gave a talk about emergency preparation focusing on your pets.

Too much to repeat here, but it is good to have several photos of your pet, a photo of you with your pet, and digital records of their medications, food, allergies, health issues, microchip data. Copy all of that onto a thumb drive, appoint a "pet buddy" to take over your pet and pet care in time of emergency, and send them the thumb drive. You can have a close in pet buddy and someone far away, have two of them to cover different kinds of emergencies.

also carry a pet info card in you wallet should something happen to you. Emergency personnel will be alerted that you have pets at home.

[Ultralight]

What I have not already done of that stuff I put in my personal to-do list. Thanks!

[jp1]

What I have not already done of that stuff I put in my personal to-do list. Thanks!

Harlan will sleep better tonight! I admit I haven't done any of that, as it had not specifically occurred to me when pondering disaster preps. However, our boys don't yet have health issues and will eat just about anything. So really the only remaining issue is pictures and establishing pet buddies, and since I haven't shunned facebook there are plenty of pictures of the boys, the boys with SO, the boys with me, the boys with me and SO, the boys inspecting the latest box that was delivered for them, etc, out there to be utilized by anyone with an internet connection.

[messengerhot]

Oh I guess this answers your question "the ability to adapt". :)

[catherine]

Permaculture principles and practices--from food production to social connection.

[catherine]

Just found this article in my FB feed from Ecosnippets. "10 Survival Skills Your Great-Grandparents Knew (That Most of Us Have Forgotten)" (http://www.ecosnippets.com/environmental/10-survival-skills-your-great-grandparents-knew/)

In short:

1) Gardening for Food
2) Animal Husbandry
3) Hunting and Fishing
4) Food Preservation
5) Blacksmithing
6) Herbal Medicine
7) Horseback Riding
8) Basic Carpentry
9) Repairing and Mending
10) Milking a Cow

On that list I could probably call myself a novice at Gardening and Repairing and Mending (clothes at least). I could probably do SOME basic carpentry and food preservation and small animal husbandry (like chickens). Since I wouldn't know anything about cows, I probably would have a steep learning curve on how to milk one.

I'd have to depend on DH for hunting and fishing, and more complex carpentry.

I'd have to form an alliance with someone with blacksmithing and herbal medicine skills (I definitely already know who I'd tap for herbal medicine--my friend, the local forager and wildcrafting expert. But he would be in such HUGE demand in a post-apocalypse world, I'd have to take a number. For that reason, I would say that foraging would be another important skill/knowledge to have.)

[nswef]

a cyanide pill or something else to make the end of life happen. No desire here to survive an apocolypse.

[Packratona!]

Strawberry fruit leather!


THis is hilarious!

[Packratona!]

I'm staying out of this one because I saw this as "edible pants" three times, lol. I swear I wasn't always this stupid, it's my new brain.

and this is proof I will in no way survive the Big One unless someone kindly takes my hand and we leave behind my stock of edible pants

This is really funny!

[Gardenarian]

[QUOTE=catherine;249894]Just found this article in my FB feed from Ecosnippets. "10 Survival Skills Your Great-Grandparents Knew (That Most of Us Have Forgotten)" (http://www.ecosnippets.com/environmental/10-survival-skills-your-great-grandparents-knew/)

In short:

1) Gardening for Food
2) Animal Husbandry
3) Hunting and Fishing
4) Food Preservation
5) Blacksmithing
6) Herbal Medicine
7) Horseback Riding
8) Basic Carpentry
9) Repairing and Mending
10) Milking a Cow
/QUOTE]

I know most of these except animal husbandry and blacksmithing. And it's been a loooonnngg time since I did any hunting or fishing.
Foraging is a really important skill - know your edible plants.
Fire making is one of the key nature skills, as well as being able to create a quick shelter.